a_recording, interesting review which proves one thesis: as many users so many opinions

seriously, you would be welcome to look at some great and expensive high-end gear which aesthetically would be a shock for you. there was one DAC which was simply put as a board with switchers and contacts, no chasis to speak of, still quite a few people claimed that DAC costing 1K sounded better than many shiny offerings under 1.5K.

but frankly speaking i did not find anything about 1p2 quality, rather fine and who cares how they look when they sound great.

concerning cable i agree, cable is stiff... but Tralucent cables are rare cables which really impact sound a lot. guess why? because quality of wire used is truly high-end and no nitty-gritty nonsense.

sound wise we all poses different ears and preferences so i would not comment. suffice to tell last week i visited Peter Gabriel concert and next day i downloaded same tour concert recording and played it using 1p2 which gave me very realistic result. let me say 1p2 and RWAK gave fairly good images of venue making me believe i have not left the concert yet... of course switching to proper front end gave me absolute sense of space and emotion but 1p2 did a great job too. and since i auditioned them next day after the concert my memory was fresh enough to tell differences and similarities.

treble, right, some people will not like it... perhaps a bit rough but also bodily and realistic... without going much into detail i would say go to a shop selling music equip and visit drums & percussions section to try how cymbals sound in real life... you will be surprised, not near where many audiophiles would expect them. actually rendering cymbals and percussions realistically is one of the most difficult tasks for all music gear i heard to date. 1p2 in my opinion conveys cymbals and drums pretty realistically but this comes at expense of some roughness which i find Ok for me because otherwise many IEMs render percussions and cymbals so mellow, thin and refined that no drummer would recognize them for real.

else i may add my own impression: 1p2 and cables are made for critical listening, 1p2 would be less suit for active outdoors use, but if you want ultimate universal IEM which can play it all and deliver realistic music images and convey energy then i did not hear anything better than 1p2.

as regards mids, one suggestion, you must feel and sense why mids were tuned so on 1p2. all i can tell IF mids would be tuned up and more stand out then whole 1p2 signature would change dramatically. there was a very delicate balance to keep good balance. perhaps mids are not as seductive as on some mid centric IEMs but 1p2 mids are more realistic full.

sorry for putting this ramble but i really found no other IEM which can bring real instrument to live to powerfully as 1p2. and particularly i was surprised about comparing them to Sony, i had one sample MDR 7550 for audition and for me Sony was a total fiasco....

However, I want to clarify a few things before there's confusion: There is a reason for all that "empty space" behind the dynamic driver. I've actually heard a prototype miniaturized version of the old 1Plus2 aka Rhapsodio RDB V1 (or whatever it's called) that placed the BA receiver and the dynamic driver in a package the size of an RHA MA450 (no joke, the case is exactly the same, I think it's from the same mold) --- the sound was good, but the bass wasn't nearly as tight. The "empty space" is actually filled with speaker cabinet damping material (looks like clay-like goop and cotton/fiberglass), which is supposed to help adjust the bass response of the 1Plus2 to make it sound the way it does in the bass region. I've actually also heard the Ranko RIE-1020, which sounds a bit different from the 1Plus2. It has the same damping material, but is used differently. It also has a crossover change, AFAIK.

Yet, I do agree with the fact that build quality in the 1Plus2 does not match most consumer expectations of its price. Perhaps that's why it's only marketed toward the most hardcore of in-ear audiophiles... I would love to see the 1Plus2 evolve into something more ergonomically sound, and have its build quality improved several-fold. It seems, however, that fans of the 1Plus2 love it for its specific sound signature.

a_recording, interesting review which proves one thesis: as many users so many opinions

No worries! Don't get me wrong, I think the 1Plus2 sounds very good. I personally would prefer a bit more energy in the kids but I'm very aware that that's a preference thing.

The build quality was the big letdown for me. I tend to think of expensive audio gear as an aspirational purpose and there is nothing particular to aspire to in the build of the 1Plus2. It'd not just an aesthetic thing, it's the ergonomics which concern me. For this kind of money you can get some very good full size headphones for home use and for portable use its a poor design.

Lachlan, I just wanted to point out that the westone type connectors that are used are fine. It's just the pins are smaller hmthan normal.

You would expect that they would adopt a locking mechanism regardless for a $1000+ IEM...

On newer Westone IEMs like the ADV they have adopted MMCX style connectors. On the Sony EX series they have a custom secure locking system which is very secure. Would it be too much to ask for a product like this to have a look at cheaper products and do something at least equivalent?

What Tom said. I'm convinced the volumetric airflow properties of the bulbous housing have everything to do with the presentational aspects of the 1p2 sound

I agree though re: the build. Even the build, which is meh for the money, is whatever fine economies of scale etc etc, small operation blah blah, but the design which you obviously have more control over is pretty much triple meh.

Originally Posted by vwinter I agree though re: the build. Even the build, which is meh for the money, is whatever fine economies of scale etc etc, small operation blah blah, but the design which you obviously have more control over is pretty much triple meh.

This statement makes no sense at all, but simultaneously makes so much sense!

No worries! Don't get me wrong, I think the 1Plus2 sounds very good. I personally would prefer a bit more energy in the kids but I'm very aware that that's a preference thing.

The build quality was the big letdown for me. I tend to think of expensive audio gear as an aspirational purpose and there is nothing particular to aspire to in the build of the 1Plus2. It'd not just an aesthetic thing, it's the ergonomics which concern me. For this kind of money you can get some very good full size headphones for home use and for portable use its a poor design.

i am not against you telling your impressions about 1p2 sound. some aspects are well reflected like slightly recessed mids which has its own purpose IMHO.

however i am against when people start talking down the product only because its price is prohibitive.

you know Ferrari is very expensive car, so would you suggest measuring Ferrari vs. Mercedes or Land Rover pound-for-pound as boxers would say?

my approach is simply different. i do not care for the price, i know there are many things i cannot afford but that does not stop them from being good or excellent things.

otherwise you can always pick T-Peos H200 which is lovely IEM, has two very flexible nice cables, comes at affordable price and gives you all consumerish mid-centric and bass huha

from my audition experience H200 outshines Sony MDR 7550 no doubt and gives good run for the money compared to higher priced IEMs too.... but talking about sound quality and forgetting price H200 is not the best and will not unseat some more expensive offerings.

so we have to decide, IF we talk about only sound, or if we talk about sound-for-pound?

Originally Posted by Gintaras so we have to decide, IF we talk about only sound, or if we talk about sound-for-pound?

If you read a_recording's post closely, I think this is the most telling statement: "I tend to think of expensive audio gear as an aspirational purpose" --- he regards high-end audio gear as something that sets benchmarks on all fronts, in both build quality/ergonomics and sound.

Extending your car analogy, the price of the 1Plus2 is more along the lines of a "hypercar", which is supposed to function as a halo car and be tops in everything --- think of the Koenigsegg Agera R, Pagani Huayra, Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, Lamborghini Veneno, etc. These are million dollar cars that dwarf the price tags of even so-called supercars, like the Ferrari 450 Italia, Lamborghini Aventador, etc. These cars have the purpose of inspiring young boys to put up posters on their walls. Something like the AKG K3003 does a similar thing for in-ears. I think that the 1Plus2 falls short of that in the looks and ergonomics category. In that sense, it's more like a Radical SR8 (still very expensive, mind you) --- looks silly, rides terribly, but posts insane Nurburgring lap times.

guys, sorry for posting in sequence but i want to touch different aspect.

when we talk about quality or nice looking.... how many 1p2 owners can post problems with housing, something breaking, etc? i welcome owners to speak out.

for me i find no issues so far. quality is fine and i do not care for looks because i did not buy them to impress girls.

now if you crave for the looks you can always check how many mega expensive high-end gear have ugly looks. does this mean you would not buy it only because of bad looks?

what i must admit is 1p2 is less fit for outdoors use especially jogging since cable is more stiff made... but we talking about highest quality material which makes this cable stand out... otherwise you can always use generic cables and do not mind some drop in sound quality if you wish.

so i hardly can see a point in shiny casings and all bells and whistles if sound is not near i wish it to be.

as example take famous Final Audio Design where casing materials are perhaps the most expensive... but when i listened to some of FAD IEMs it left me wondering what i would be paying for since they sound pretty average to my ear do not get me wrong, FAD sounds fairly nice but is far from what i would call true sound and it costs way too much .... we can go with more examples too. but as i said i hate comparing pound for pound .... and comparing only sound 1p2 beats easily even top FAD models.

If you read a_recording's post closely, I think this is the most telling statement: "I tend to think of expensive audio gear as an aspirational purpose" --- he regards high-end audio gear as something that sets benchmarks on all fronts, in both build quality/ergonomics and sound.

Extending your car analogy, the price of the 1Plus2 is more along the lines of a "hypercar", which is supposed to function as a halo car and be tops in everything --- think of the Koenigsegg Agera R, Pagani Huayra, Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, Lamborghini Veneno, etc. These are million dollar cars that dwarf the price tags of even so-called supercars, like the Ferrari 450 Italia, Lamborghini Aventador, etc. These cars have the purpose of inspiring young boys to put up posters on their walls. Something like the AKG K3003 does a similar thing for in-ears. I think that the 1Plus2 falls short of that in the looks and ergonomics category. In that sense, it's more like a Radical SR8 (still very expensive, mind you) --- looks silly, rides terribly, but posts insane Nurburgring lap times.

huh... funny...

first of all super car comparison does not stand any criticism... if we talk about super car then please go to specially tweak CIEMs costing many thousands and custom made from top to bottom including sound sig tuning.

so 1p2 is not super car man.... sorry

second, i suggest we speak about sound quality and mention price only when we feel like recommending or not. read many high end reviews do this exactly like this and it makes perfect sense.

living not far from Germany i was on Nurburgring driving, big fun and adrenalin, the only thing which stops you from gearing your car beyond supersonic speed is you are afraid the car will disintegrate... greetings from speedy racer (me) who often collects tickets for speeding

but .... BUT i respect all opinions and i admit we can hear things differently, the only problem i had was the price issue was clearly mentioned in the way i would not do.

Build however refers to more than just "how fragile or prone to damage". I've actually gone through 3x1Plus2's this year - for unrelated reasons. Each pair had one "feature" in common - the tips would fall out easily, and regularly changing of cables seem to loosen the recess sockets such that the cable is easier to fall out. In fact I'm so paranoid about this that on my 3rd 1Plus2, I've never disconnected the IEM from the cable in fear that it'll have the same issue as the past two. As for the falling tips, no real solution yet.

Comfort would be another concerning factor - even more so with the uber cable. The reason is that with the standard silver or silver/gold you could at least bend/flex the cable till the point that the IEM sits nicely in your ear. With the uber, there's only so much bending/flexing one can do.

Note I'm not even talking about taking it outdoors but just prepping to listen to the 1Plus2.

Having said that, after all that is sorted and I get some music playing (almost all) is forgiven.